Yesterday When The War Began
by Jessimyre
Summary: Tomorrow When The War began from Lee's POV. Delve into the thoughts and feelings of one of the other characters, Ellie's love interest and a complicated, fascinating guy. Just my version - Lee's character has always fascinated me. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Yesterday, When The War Began

I got the idea from Ellie. She was our official record keeper for the early days of the war, back when we wanted a record – something to show we were here and we had fought. Something to prove to ourselves we weren't just anyone, we weren't just another half-dozen teenagers, not just another statistic, not just seven more people to feel sorry for.

It's been some time since the last shot was fired but I remember everything. Every word, every feeling, every bullet. I never was a writer, I am a musician but since the war I've hardly done anything musical. But now suddenly I am writing.

It was my councilor, shrink, phsyc, whatever you want to call him David's encouragement that got me started. They assigned David to me when we got to New Zealand and suprisingly he really did help me a bit. As much as anyone can help a murderer refugee from a 20th century full on war zone. I mean, how the hell do you prepare for that? You can't. We didn't. David didn't but he did a bloody good job anyway. I'm glad I agreed to see him.

So I started this today and now I can't stop. Because I have to tell the story of the biggest, most terrifying and awful thing that has ever happened to me. To us. And I can't forget even a moment of it.

I am going to see this through. Perhaps one day I might show someone. But not now, it is still too fresh, too raw. The bloody war, the event that stole everything I held dear and almost everyone too.

I still can't bring myself to consider forgiving the black swarm of foreign disease that was the army who invaded our home. My parents weren't born here but I was and it is my country as much as anyone else's. Was, I should say. But every time I think of them, them that I have to share this land with now the bile and rage and hate boils up from my gut and threatens to overwhelm me. How could anyone live with such a venomous hatred inside them? I'm scared I'll go completely mad with it. Perhaps I will. Perhaps I already have. I could kill them all. Drop a nuke right down their stolen chimneys.

But then there'd be a sad story on the news just like the Port Arthur massacre a couple of years ago and I'll just be another headline of some sad freak that slaughtered all these people for no reason the average joe could work out. So I won't. I'm not that far gone, not yet.

It's hard to sympathise with other countries that this has happened to when all I want is to rip our invaders apart. But its done now, its happened and just like with other countries throughout history I have to somehow learn to live with it.

I stick to home as much as possible – I don't want the slightest chance of running into one of them walking down one of our streets. Soon enough the world will have more or less forgotten all about us as their own troubles trump the news. And before I know it those bastards will be coming over the border on sight seeing tours and to taste the local delicacies, bring the kids to the beach for their holidays.

I can't even begin to describe what I think about that.

So I'll start with the phone call. It was a pretty quiet Sunday afternoon in the school holidays. It was just after New Year and although it wasn't too hot yet, it soon would be. My mother answered the phone when it rang. I was busy in my room reading back through a composition so I wasn't paying any attention but eventually a word or two got through to me.

"Lee? Lee? OK I get." Mum was Vietnamese and her English wasn't too great despite being in Australia since she was a little kid, and her accent was still very strong so I guess that is why Ellie had a hard time explaining she was after me.

I still wonder now, why Ellie wanted to ask me. I mean, we didn't hang out at school at all. She had her group of friends and I mine, even though the school wasn't a big one. It was tiny compared to most city schools. A few hundred students only up to Year 10. For Year's 11 and 12 you'd have to catch the bus over to Risdon Senior High.

But when I answered the phone, wondering who and why I realised who straight away. The amount of times I'd taken an order from her for the restaurant – I'd know that voice anywhere.

"Hey Lee, its Ellie."

"Hello Ellie." I answered; still pretty shocked she was calling. I'd liked her since the beginning of last year. Well, the year before last actually seeing as the date of that call was January 3rd – I was forgetting that it was a new year already.

And she was single now, she'd split with Steve at the Christmas Party at Mrs Andersons. Everyone from school was talking about it because the pair were practically inseparable unless you had a crowbar handy. Everyone was shocked. I was pleased but kept that opinion to myself.

I listened while she explained about the proposed camping trip.

"We're going to go into the mountains, up Tailor's Stitch behind our place and see if we can get right down into Hell. Corrie's coming, and Kevin. I've asked Fi, you know Fiona Maxwell? But she's still trying to convince her parents it'll be OK. Homer's coming too and I am going to call Robyn in a minute."

Homer. Great. I wasn't a big fan of Homer and his group.

"We've got to have at least six people on the trip, Mum and Dad think we'll be safer that way." She snorted. I stayed silent, listening.

"So yeah, I thought I'd ask if you wanted to come too. Should be a great week hey? Free from parental observation and we can get into the heavy stuff but don't tell anyone." She joked.

"Heavy stuff?" I frowned, confused.

"Yeah, you know. Milo. Chocolate. Tim Tams. Maybe even some Iced Vo Vo's." she answered with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah." I said. Ellie was quiet for a minute, clearly regretting asking me already, I must have sounded really out of it. She was probably wondering what heavy stuff I was on, like I'd been hanging out with Chris and Brendan or something.

"When is it?" I asked.

"Oh well we're leaving first thing on the 20th and back on 25th." She answered.

"I'm meant to be playing at the Commemoration Day Concert." I said to her, my mouth running on automatic whilst my brain started screaming at me.

It went quiet. I couldn't think of a single way to salvage this conversation and was sure I had blown it. Any second now I'd hear the receiver on the other end hang up. What was that stupid joke my kid brother Tim said last time he hung up on me? 'What sound does a reversing truck make?' Yeah, real funny Tim.

Finally Ellie broke the silence that I was spending cursing myself for being so stupid and not being able to even have a decent conversation with her on the phone.

"So do you want to come?" she asked.

I laughed with relief, trying to make it sound natural and relaxed. "It sounds more fun that the concert." I assured her. But then more silence. It was so awkward. What I wouldn't have given to be able to read her thoughts.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked. I thought quickly about how I was going to get out of the concert. My teacher Mr Robson was going to kill me. I would just have to go with the truth, I don't like to lie.

"Do you want to ask your Mum and Dad?" Ellie interrupted my thoughts.

"No, no. I'll handle them. Yeah I'll come."

"You don't sound that keen."

"Hey I'm keen!" I said almost too fast. "Just thinking about the problems." _Like skipping out on the concert, like convincing my parents. Like Homer._ "But its cool, I'll be there. What'll I bring?" I asked.

Ellie's voice brightened up at that and she began to relay details. Before I knew it I was hanging up and facing my mother's incredibly curious expression. No girls had ever called the house before just to speak to me. I wasn't big on the dating scene.

It took me a while to convince my mother that the trip was a good idea. She was very worried about the associated dangers. Snake bite for one, bushfires. It was a dry season. Lack of water. Rogue cattle. Snake bite. Drop Bears, rabid rabbits, bunyips and oh, yes, snake bite.

At home we spoke both Thai and Vietnamese. It was just easier on my parents as english was not the first language for either of them. And I liked being multi-lingual, it made me feel smarter and more superior to the ignorant yobs at school. Farmers kids always thought they knew everything. Well, some of them anyway. Some were OK.

So I was invited, and I was damned if I was going to miss it. The biggest bonus for me was that my father had hired a couple of the local kids in the restaurant for the summer holidays which took the strain off me. They didn't need me quite so badly.

But it wasn't easy. It took two nights to convince them that I was good to go and that we'd be safe. I had to promise to take the first aid kit, and I had to promise to be home by dusk of the 25th and I had to promise to handle Mr Robson myself. And I did.

One more call to Ellie's house a couple of days later to definitely confirm that I was coming and I was set. Hanging out for the 20th. And she gave me the latest list of my fellow campers.

Corrie of course, Ellie's very best friend. Nice girl and somebody I'd always got along with. Corrie and Ellie were practically inseparable and did everything together. As close as best friends can be. Which was hard because whenever I wanted a chance to talk to Ellie it was nearly impossible because she was either with Corrie or with Steve. Now Steve was out of the picture I still had to work around Corrie. Corrie had red hair, almost auburn and pale skin with freckles. She always had to be careful about sunburn but she didn't have the fabled red-head temper. She was one the quietest, easy going people I knew.

Kevin Holmes was also coming. He was Corrie's boyfriend and they'd been going out a few months now. Kevin was a typically rural guy. Physically strong and always very sure of himself. He came from a long line of farmers and there was no question with him what he'd do after school.

We were all supposed to be starting Year 11 at Risdon this year. Kevin was a year older than us, but was still in our year. He'd been kept down a year when he was 7 because he'd been real sick – I don't know why – and had missed most of the school year because of tests and being in hospital.

But now Kevin was loud, good at school sports and incredibly opinionated.

Robyn Mathers I didn't know so well. She was pretty religious and one of those really good students that just excels at everything. I know she and I were tied for top of the year last year. She was fairly slender and a graceful girl with a tinkly laugh. She had always seemed a bit too good to be true but I knew there was more to her than that. There was something else about Robyn, an extra something. You could see it in her eyes, in her expression. Robyn was quietly strong.

Fiona Maxwell was the beauty of Wirrawee High. Her parents both solicitors had loads of money but Fi wasn't snobby with it. She wore the same uniform as the rest of us and she hung out as one of the group. But she wasn't. She was too well spoken, too neat and tidy. She had horse riding lessons with some lady that had ridden at the Olympics and spent plenty of weekends at shows winning ribbons and silver cups, she had a private tutor, she had private piano lessons with my music teacher and she and her family often went overseas during the holidays.

Slight, slender and perfectly balanced with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Most of the boys lusted after Fi even if publicly they put on the façade that they didn't. But she didn't hook up with any of them. I think she was too shy.

Homer Yannos was my least favourite. He was loud, crude, and enjoyed winding people up for a laugh. He was the class clown and the school prankster – nobody took Homer seriously. He was Ellie's neighbor and although I laughed along with the rest when Homer did something stupid – like shimmying down the drainpipe to get out of class – I didn't have much time for him.

He is a big guy, well built and the farm work hardened his muscles. I used to think it was a shame his brain muscles were so poorly neglected but I would never have stood a chance against him. I was going to have to spend a good bit of this camping trip avoiding Homer.

And then there was Ellie herself. She and Corrie were the ringleaders of the entire trip and I could even be as cruel to say it was their fault things went the way they did. But it wasn't, not really. Ellie was a typical teenager in many ways. Typical height, typical slim build – although not as tiny as Fi. Ellie at least had some curves.

She had dark wavy hair and a wide smile. She had a light smattering of freckles over her nose that you could only really see close up and captivating grey-green eyes. Sometimes they changed between the two. But Ellie was tough. She was fun and she was funny.

So that was us. The seven teenagers that left for a camping trip when the world was hovering on the brink of change. The Magnificent Seven.

It hurts to even think about it most of the time. What I wouldn't give for it all not to have happened. What if I could go back and tell myself not to go on that trip. Would I have listened? Probably not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming! This Chapter does follow the book closely, but I am planning for Chap 3 and the rest of it to diverse quite a bit from the original whilst still maintaining the established events.**

**Please keep reading and reviewing. No reviews - no new Chapters because I might think nobody's bothering to read them. :) Thanks!**

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So the plan was to leave Ellie's at 8am. I had packed all my stuff from home into my old school bag, it was really all I had as my parents weren't into camping. I hadn't taken much. A couple of pairs of shorts, four shirts, some socks and jocks, two jumpers, two pairs of old jeans, a towel and a hoodie in case it was cold up in the mountains. Ellie and Corrie had taken care of the food, I had given her some cash toward my share and would help carry it.

The night before I caught a lift up to Ellie's place with Fi's parents – she too had surprised me with a call with the offer. I reeled off my list of promises to my mother before I left the house and waved goodbye to my father who was busy in the restaurant. It never once occurred to me that this was the last time I'd see them again in this life. If it had I would never have gone. If it had, I would have told them how much I respected them and just how much they meant to me. I would have told them to be careful.

Ellie's dad made it clear I'd be sleeping in the lounge overnight and I had no objections. Their couch was comfy and I got to spend the evening with the girls going over the supplies for the trip.

"Lee that bag's no good – too hard to carry. Hang on a sec, we'll borrow Dad's old pack he won't mind." Ellie said immediately when we turned up. She disappeared into a back room somewhere and Fi and I heard her bumping around. Then a thud and Ellie's squeal followed by a muffled swearword. Eventually she came back into the living room with a proper camping pack, blue and with a frame.

"We've all got these – go on chuck your stuff in there." She said. Ellie's mum didn't say anything so I assumed it was fine for me to borrow it.

We went to bed early considering, I had to wait a while for Ellie's parents to go on to bed and I settled down on the couch.

"Up and at 'em!" The next morning I was heaved off the couch and dumped on the floor which was guess who's way of saying good morning. I looked up with bleary eyes, it must have been around 5am. It was just starting to get light.

"Homer!" Ellie hissed in reproval. But he ignored her and lurched off to the kitchen. The rest of us began getting ourselves sorted for the trip. I pretty much kept it quiet.

So we were supposed to be off by 8. Somehow Ellie'd convinced her parents to let us borrow their old Landrover to take us and the absolute mountain of food and supplies up Tailor's. By 7:30 Robyn had arrived, Kevin and Corrie turned up a few minutes later laughing and apologising for being late. 8:15 Ellie's dad was completely fed up with the goofing around and the haphazard way of packing he took off.

"If you were jackaroos I'd sack every last one of you!" he growled before taking off on the farm bike to check the sheep in a back paddock somewhere. Ellie shrugged and grinned.

"We're on holidays, Dad." She addressed the expanding cloud of dust.

Eventually – at around 10ish we were all in the Landie, Ellie driving and Homer riding shotgun cruising across the paddocks toward the border of their place. By half past we'd begun bumping up the much neglected track, ascending into the foothills and toward our goal.

There were massive potholes where the road had eroded away over the years, Ellie swore and wrestled with the wheel all the way, I was surprised at the strength in those little arms. We stopped for countless fallen trees, Homer was out in a flash to get the chainsaw going for those, after the fourth one he suggested he keep it running to save time. Ellie was horrified and that idea was abandoned pretty quickly.

"This is awful!" Fi complained from the back, looking pretty pale and green. Nobody else spoke up but I am sure several of us agreed wholeheartedly with her. We had to stop again for her to be sick.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have borrowed the Landie after all." Corrie said to Ellie with a worried frown. "Your Dad won't be happy after we've destroyed the suspension."

Ellie's face was a comical mask of stubborn determination and she didn't answer as we bumped and bounced our way around another huge hole in the track.

"Hey its way better than the Cocktail Shaker at the Show." I said with a grin in Ellie's defense "Because it's longer – and it's free."

"Yeah," Kevin laughed, "Even more opportunities for wearing somebody's puke. Wonderful."

Further conversation was cut off with a bone jarring crash as the front tyre thumped into another sudden hole and then Homer swearing as he hit his head on the ceiling. If he had kept the chainsaw going he'd definitely have lost a limb or three by now.

None of us was too fussed about missing the Show. It was on Commemoration Day – double celebration for Wirrawee – and the entire district shut down and converged on the showgrounds. But we'd done it every year since we were tots and there's only so many showbags you can buy and basketballs to throw into the hoop for some constipated looking stuffed dog.

We'd done our bit as far as we were concerned, I'd had to help Mr Robson set up but had left him with most of the work that day – as we'd left the day before the Show.

Robyn had been helping a friend set up the Young Farmers display and I knew both Ellie and Homer's parents were missing their help displaying their prized stock. Fi had told me the night before she'd turned down an opportunity to compete her instructors new Warmblood in the show jumping. None of which made much sense to the rest of us – it seemed this was a big deal in the horse world.

But we'd been to it, done it, bought the t-shirts and we were over it. The camping trip seemed like a much better idea at the time. Right then I wasn't so sure.

We stopped a couple of times more for several of us to take a leak – the track sure jolted us around so much – and toward the end of the ride I was pretty much wishing I hadn't come.

Finally we made it. It must have been at least half two by the time Ellie pulled on the handbrake and killed the engine. It was bizarre suddenly being quiet and still after all that jolting and shuddering. My insides were still sloshing around not unlike the feeling you get standing on solid ground after you've been out to sea for a few hours.

We all got out and stretched, mine wasn't the only relieved face among the group of us. I faced down toward the ocean as I stretched my legs and then walked about a little bit, from here was a great view of Cobbler's Bay – the deep natural harbour that we all loved to visit. Unusually there was a large ship of some sort out on the distant horizon – probably some sort of big fishing trawler. Normally you were lucky for a tinny or a luxury yacht to visit the place. Occasionally people had weddings down there; it was pretty stunning and the pride of Wirrawee. I'd learned to surf there when I was younger.

Behind us the track was invisible under the trees, and I couldn't see Ellie's house any more, the bush and foothills hid it well. But we could see the farmland stretching toward the other horizon dotted with the gleam of a tin roof and tiny sticks that were windmills. The Heron River would lazily through the land. The patterns in the crops were always fascinating to me and I could even spot minute dots that could have been cattle here and there.

Up ahead Tailor's Stitch - a narrow raised piece of land, I don't know the official term for it - threaded its way up into the hills and eventually to Mt Martin. We'd come to the end of the track, Ellie'd parked in the flattest piece there was and from now on we'd be on foot, hiking through bush that no human had bothered with in living memory. Except the hermit perhaps, there was always some story about the Hermit from Hell knocking about the town.

I turned and looked down into the last direction from our little lookout point. A large, deep bowl of sheer rock and bushland, the bottom invisible dropped away quite sharply not far from us. Hell.

"Holy shit." Homer

"Wow." Kevin said, "We're going to get into there?" he sounded pretty amazed himself.

"We're going to try." Ellie answered at once, that determined look from the Landie making a reappearance.

"Impressive." I said, gazing down into the wild pit that opened up by our feet. "I'm impressed."

"I've got two questions," said Kevin, "but I'll only ask one of them. How?"

"What's the other one?" Ellie asked.

"The other one is "Why?". But I'm not going to ask that. Just tell me how and I'll be satisfied. I'm easily satisfied."

"That's not what Corrie says." Homer's eyes were alight with the chance to be a smart ass.

Kevin picked up a rock and threw it at him, Homer ducking just in time. Then he threw one back, Kevin rugby tackled him and they wrestled for a moment until Kevin very nearly threw Homer straight over the cliff head first. That seemed to shake them and they stopped, breathing hard and eyeing each other off like rottweilers walking by one another on opposite sides of the street.

Corrie rolled her eyes at Fi.

"So how are we going to get in there?" Kevin asked again.

"There it is. That's our route." Ellie pointed to our right. Corrie got the giggles and I opened my mouth to say something smart but shut it again when Kevin interrupted.

"That?" he asked incredulously, "That collection of cliffs?"

During the moment of quiet after the question we all gazed at the cliffs in question. Like enormous roughly made steps that some careless giant had thrown down to make a path the Satan's Steps made their way down the impossibly steep hillside. They must have been the size of mansions, the size of Ellie's Dad's shearing shed. They were impossible to climb just as we could see them. If they were steps you'd be looking at the Great Wall of China as a back fence. The Pyramids as garden decorations. The Sphinx with a jolly red hat and fishing line by the Black Sea pond.

"Guys," Ellie began, "I don't know if it's possible or not, but there's plenty of people around Wirrawee who say it is. If you believe the stories, there was an old ex murderer lived in there for years – the Hermit from Hell. If some pensioner can do it, we sure can. I think we should give it our best shot. Let's make like dressmakers and get the tuck in there."

"Gee Ellie," I said, impressed again, "Now I understand why you're captain of the Netball team."

"How do you get to be an ex murderer?" Robyn asked.

"Eh?"

"Well, what's the difference between an ex murder and a murderer?" she wanted to know. Good question.

"I've got one more question." Kevin piped up.

"Yeah?" several of us asked at once.

"Do you actually know anyone who's been down there?"

"Um, let's get the packs out of the Landie." Ellie answered and quickly turned back to the car. Homer sniggered and followed her.

We got the gear out and shouted ourselves to a rest. We all found a spot to lean against them or the Landie admiring the spectacular view. I wished I'd brought my pencils and a pad up there, I'd love to have drawn it.

Ellie and Robyn got some cold chicken and salad out from the food supplies and passed it around and we sat happily enough munching away in relative silence.

And then, "Fi," Ellie asked, "just what have your got in that pack?"

"What do you mean?" Fi asked in a startled voice, sitting up suddenly. I spied a guilty conscience.

"What clothes exactly?" Ellie pressed.

"What Corrie told me. Shirts, jumpers. Gloves, socks, undies, towl."

"But what else? That can't be all."

Fi went pink and looked down.

"Pyjamas." She admitted, face hiding behind a curtain of blonde hair.

"Oh Fi." Corrie said, half laughing.

"Dressing gown." Fi admitted.

"Dressing gown? Fi!" Ellie giggled.

"Well you never know who you'll meet." Fi wailed in defense.

"What else?" Robyn asked, intrigued.

"I'm not telling you any more. You'll all laugh at me."

"Fi, we've still got to get the food into these packs. And then carry them God knows how far." Ellie set down the last of her salad and wiped her hands on her jeans.

"Oh. Do you think I should take the pillow out, then?"

"Yes." I answered her. "Unless you want to go without the chocolate?" I got up too, Homer grabbed Fi's pack and the six of us, Fi left to sit outside the group looking guilty, rearranged her pack for her to include the necessities. We left out the pillow. And the dressing gown. I did however shove Fi's pyjamas down into a side pocket for her. She saw me and shot me a grateful glance.

I left the girls to deal with the girly stuff, underwear and whatnot, and got up to start helping pack the food. We'd brought a tonne of the stuff, I was surprised there was room for anyone to sit in the Landie after we'd packed it. We opened box after box, pulled out the cool-bags and began to try and cram it into all of our packs.

It wasn't going to fit. Not by a long shot. By the time we had to make the hard choices of what to take and what to leave for a second trip the girls had rejoined us and true to form, helped pack the junk first and left the healthy stuff for another day.

"We're on holidays." Corrie reasoned. "And we mightn't get far from the Landie anyway, so we can always come back for stuff."

"Who're you trying to convince?" I asked. "Us or yourself?"

"Everyone."

Finally in the very early evening we got going – fit little Robyn leading us over to the beginning of Satan's Steps. The packs took some adjusting, once they had all the extra weight of the food in them plus the water bottles we each carried but we worked out the best way to carry them and meandered through the bushland, Ellie behind Robyn, me behind her, Homer, Fi following him and Kevin and Corrie in the rear talking softly between themselves and not really paying attention to much else.

Ellie dropped back to walk with me for a while and asked about my parents and their reaction to me coming on the trip.

"Well, it could have been worse. They pretty much trust me. They're no Laemle's." I said.

"Who?"

"Nick and Lily Laemle? From 'The Parents'? you know, that horror film from the 80's?"

Ellie shook her head. Obviously she hadn't seen that one. We began talking about horror movies then. She hadn't seen so many, I reckon I've seen them all by now – I watched a lot of movies late at night when I couldn't sleep. I've never been a good sleeper, I get pretty tired but then I'm too tired to fall asleep. It's a bitch.

By the time we got to the top of Satan's Steps Robyn had stopped so we all did, waiting for the stragglers to catch up.

"Hmm. Interesting." Homer said, eyeing the challenge much the same as he had Kevin earlier on.

"There must be a way." Corrie said, arriving behind us.

"When we were kids," Ellie began, "we used to say that looked like a track down to the left there. We always told ourselves that it was the Hermit's path. We used to scare ourselves by imagining that he'd appear at any moment."

"He was probably just a nice, misunderstood old man." Fi always believed the best in everyone. Even now she's just the same. It must be nice, to have something so pure inside of you that you're untouched by a big, ugly change.

"Don't think so," Ellie corrected her, "They say he murdered his wife and baby."

"I don't think it's a path, anyway." Corrie interrupted them, "just a fault-line in the rock."

There was a bit of discussion back and forth as we gazed down and around to try and find the best place to start. When no magic path appeared Homer wandered further down to see what he could see.

"We could get over the first block I think," he called back to us, "That ledge on the other side, it looks like it drops pretty close to the ground at the far corner."

We all followed him over to see what he was pointing out to us. After much hesitation and concern from Fi about getting back Corrie ended the speculation and took the lead. The serious bush bashing of the day began.

We spent the next hour or two climbing, pushing through dense foliage, getting scratched and torn, wriggling through impossible spaces and sliding into one another. I quickly got hot and bothered and completely fed up again. But I definitely had too much pride to say anything, I was determined to keep up with everyone else.

I wasn't the fittest but I sure wasn't lagging behind. Several times I gave the girls a hand and I managed to find the best way down from the first block to the second. Ellie took the credit but I wasn't complaining.

As we slid our way down an old rotten log, scaring the life out of what seemed like an entire nation's worth of creepy crawlies I was beginning to enjoy the challenge again. I guess I was getting my second wind.

Kevin was last down and boy did he kick up a fuss. I was pretty surprised a big farmer's son like him scared of a few millipedes and slaters. What a wuss. Homer grinned at me as we watched Kevin twist and turn, flailing madly at himself to dislodge them all.

I gazed around with the others at the new place we'd found ourselves in. A tiny space with an overhang, almost underneath the big block of rock we'd come down from. I couldn't see a single way through out of the spot.

"Well, looks like we camp here for a week!" Robyn said quite cheerfully. There was silence which I broke.

"Ellie," I said as nicely as I could manage, "I don't think we're going to find a way down. And the further we go, the harder it's going to be to get back."

Trust Ellie.

"Let's try for just one more step." She said, not looking at us but still scanning for a possible way to maneuver the next one, "Three's my lucky number."

I swear she only does some stuff just to prove you wrong.

Corrie found a tiny little space for us to crawl through into some sort of half tunnel. But I was up for it, I was pretty sure we'd be able to get back again at least from here so was willing to try for Ellie's lucky third number. We all removed our packs and one by one squeezed through the gap, pushing packs ahead of us as we squirmed along.

"I've decided I am never coming back as a worm in the next life." I grunted.

"Or a bloody rabbit." Homer answered from somewhere behind me.

We slithered downhill swearing and grunting for quite a distance, like clumsy overgrown snakes on the first warmish day of spring. I hoped like hell we wouldn't meet any real snakes down here.

Eventually Corrie mentioned she could hear running water and we crawled on stubbornly toward it. Eventually we came out in a pretty little stream hidden from the sunlight by a thick canopy of bushes and trees. Corrie perched on a rock and Ellie said, "Well we found something."

I wanted to have a quick look upstream, Robyn did the same down, we each sloshed off as the others made the most of the rest, and the cold fresh water for a drink. It was thick bush all around, rocks everywhere and I couldn't really find much but it looked as though the stream went for quite a distance.

I was on my way back to the others when I heard Robyn's voice very clearly – I was closer to them than I expected – say in a voice that sent shivers down my spine;

"I just found a bridge."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! I am glad you're finding it as interesting to read as I am to write. Hopefully this chapter lives up to the other two. I've also corrected a couple of minor things in the first two chapters. Enjoy and keep on reviewing!**

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**Chapter 3**

The bridge was beautifully built. The logs that made up the surface had obviously been carefully selected and cut so they were all the same, making for a comfortable place to tread. There was a handrail, and even the pegs holding it all together were immaculately done. I stood running my hands over the joints, marveling at the craftsmanship as everyone began talking at once.

Obviously we spoke most about the Hermit, how the stories had to be true after all, and how long he must have lived down here to have built such a bridge. He'd built it to last and a good hundred years later it was still here and in perfect condition.

Typically Homer's arrogance burst forth from him oathing to never call Ellie stubborn again. Actually "stupid, dumb obstinate slag heap" were his exact words. Ellie grinned – all a part of their brother-sister-they-never-had relationship.

Kevin began taking credit for keeping us at it until we reached this point and then commented the bridge resembled his own woodwork attempts both of which everyone ignored.

We were so pumped, so excited and so full of adrenaline by our find we left the bridge and practically bounced along the overgrown but clear path that led away from the bridge and down into Hell.

The girls discussed the Hermit and what he would have survived on, Ellie brought up the walking stick my friend Andy had found a couple of years back. He still had it, I knew, in his room and it did sterling service as a doorstop and sometimes a paper-weight.

We chattered like magpies all the way, the path taking us around, and once between Satan's steps forming what was almost a tunnel between the last and second last of the rocks. It wove down the hill, between thick trees and bush land until at last we found ourselves at the bottom.

We came out to a clearing that was a little bigger than the Wirrawee Hockey Field which was at the show grounds and then realised we had done it. In the one day we'd done what nobody else in living memory had done. We'd successfully climbed into Hell.

The clearing wasn't man made so of course had trees scattered through it. The ground was covered with the usual debris of the bush and a few stones. The last of the sunlight filtered through the light tree canopy, gold beams highlighting various areas of the ground. The creek was at the western edge, near the wall of Hell and was wider and slower moving.

We all looked at each other, grinning like idiots.

"This is freaking awesome!" Kevin said, summing up what everyone thought. That sentence broke the spell and we all immediately started talking again as we set up camp. Kevin and Homer went off for firewood, Robyn and Fi started unpacking the first tent.

"Don't worry about that for now," Ellie suggested to them as she cleared an area for the fire and began setting up some stones in a neat circle to contain it, "We've only got a couple and its warm enough – lets just set up the flies for now and worry about tents tomorrow.

Fi and Robyn looked around at the clearing which was rapidly getting dark now the sunshine was gone and agreed. Kevin was back and had a fire going in a couple of minutes so Ellie and I got stuck into the cooking for our first night.

I had already got the food out, something simple and easy to start us off – nobody was in the mood to do a lot of cooking, least of all me so I wandered over to the fire with a few yellow packets, a saucepan and the plastic bowls we'd shoved into my pack.

Ellie poured water in from our carry-in supply and we had just got it settled over the fire as Fi wandered up. We were ripping open the packets and upending them straight into the pot when she asked;

"What are we having?"

"Two minute noodles for now. We'll cook some meat later, but I'm too hungry to wait." Ellie told her.

"What are two minute noodles?" Fi asked, I glanced at her face to see if she was pulling my leg but her expression was genuine. I grinned at Ellie.

"It's an awesome feeling," I said, "to realise you're about to change someone's life forever."

We stayed up so late that night. We sat around the fire, finished the noodles and began on a more serious meal of lamb chops and we talked. Gosh we talked, all seven of us talked for hours and hours. We talked about Hell, the hike, the drive, the preparation. Our families, how our younger siblings were all desperate to come. We talked about the show, school, Uni and we talked about Risdon. We talked about our futures, our pasts and everything in between. I don't think there was a subject we didn't talk about.

You know how it goes, something one person says sparks a memory or a funny story and off you go on another subject, usually completely off the original topic. We were up for hours. It must have been at least two in the morning before the party broke up and very shortly afterwards we were all snoring in our sleeping bags.

The next day we woke early, being outdoors we naturally rose with the sun but nobody got out of bed. I think Robyn and Fi slept again for a bit. It must have been around mid morning before anyone considered getting up and closer to lunch before we actually did.

For the most part we just lay around doing very little. The girls were good enough to get breakfast which more or less merged into brunch, then morning tea, lunch and we would have kept going I think, if it wasn't for Homer and eventually Ellie being energetic to actually do something.

I got stuck into All Quiet On The Western Front and wasn't particularly keen to do much. I worked so hard at school, at music and then at home in the restaurant it was an incredibly nice change to have permission – to give myself permission – to do absolutely nothing.

The day passed slowly and more or less peacefully as we passed it in ways that reflected our personalities I guess. Me with my book, Homer much more actively climbing and exploring, Ellie and Fi sitting by the creek talking and then Ellie joined Homer for a wander through the scrub later in the day, Robyn spent a lot of her time listening to music, Kevin and Corrie spent a lot of time talking together quietly and then began making out on the sleeping bag. The rest of us pretty much ignored one another and the two love birds. We were pretty chilled out.

The snake in Homer's sleeping bag was our excitement for the day, he found it when he returned there to have a rest in the evening, the snake must have decided it had found a nice warm possie for the night and was pretty mad about being turfed out.

We all found some energy then, as Robyn and Kevin lifted one end of the sleeping bag with sticks to pour the snake out the front. They did well at first but then dropped it and the snake came bursting out, fast and furious. We all ran for it, I bolted for a tree and climbed up in a burst of adrenalin and by the time we all stopped to look back for the others, the snake was long gone. Thank goodness.

We all double and triple checked our sleeping bags before we went to bed that night. The long day of doing nothing was exhausting and most of us passed out pretty quickly. We still hadn't bothered to put up a tent, the nights were warm enough even up here and the flies were still up forming a slanted ceiling which opened to the sky.

I was on the end, Robyn next to me, then Fi, Ellie, Homer, and Corrie and Kevin on the other end – all in a row like peas in a pod. I had hoped to be next to Ellie but she and Fi claimed the middle spots explaining they were least likely to wake up during the night and disturb everyone else.

I was looking at the sky, what little part of it I could see between our fly, the edges of Hell's impressive walls and the treetops. I could see millions of stars even in that small gap and was whiling away the time it took me to fall asleep by counting them. Ellie and Homer might have had sheep to count, being farmers kids but I was usually in front of a horror movie wondering why I couldn't get to sleep. Tonight there was no electricity, no TV so I was counting stars.

In that little gap there was at least eighteen thousand – the skies were so clear and the starts so much brighter up there – but many were really faint and I kept losing count.

At around midnight it was silent around me, the others breathing deeply and Homer had started to snore a little. I was almost asleep myself when I heard a noise. At first I wasn't conscious of hearing it, it had been so faint to begin with and I can only assume that was because the sheer walls of Hell blocked out the sound effectively but suddenly with a blast of noise aircraft shot overhead and just as quickly the sound of their engines was cut off again by our little canyon.

Robyn sat up, startled. She hadn't been so much asleep as I'd assumed.

"Just planes." I told her drowsily.

"It was pretty loud." She said, lying down again.

"Mm," I answered, a bit annoyed with them for waking me up again, "I guess it echoes more down here."

Maybe a minute later, another blast of aircraft over head. There were several waves this time, and Robyn and I both sat up to squint around the canvas to see if we could see them. But we couldn't, not without moving right out into the clearing for a better look and neither of us could be bothered.

"Eight," Robyn counted the waves of aircraft in a whisper.

"And say, ten planes each time… that's a lot of planes." I answered in a low voice. I could smell fumes from the fuel now. The planes had sounded really low and I guess the artificial smell was much more easily detected out here in the bush where the air was much clearer and pure.

"Wasn't the Air Force doing a big display at the Stratton Fireworks for Commem Day?" Robyn asked. I sat and thought for a moment.

"Yeah I think I remember something about that in the paper," I answered, "Doing aerial maneuvers and flying the flag over and stuff."

"They must be heading back to base." She answered with a sigh, shuffling around in her bag to get comfortable.

Before I could answer another eight waves began. We both counted them and wondered how the others could possibly sleep through the noise. There was silence for a while and we both must have drifted off to sleep then. Throughout the rest of the night more planes went over, wave after wave. I guess we slept through some but woke for others.

It never occurred to me then that we were hearing the big change, that life would never ever be the same again. It was just planes, a little out of the ordinary but nothing to get excited about. After a while things quietened down in the sky and the next I woke it was about eight in the morning and it was already getting warm.

"Did anyone else hear those planes last night?" Robyn asked as we all sat around the remains of our fire for breakfast.

"Yes," Ellie answered immediately, "I was up, I'd been to the toilet."

"They just never stopped," Robyn said, "Must have been hundreds." I just nodded in agreement, not that anyone was watching.

"There were six lots," Ellie corrected her, "Close together and really low. But I thought you all slept through it. Fi was the only one who said anything."

"Six lots?" Robyn stared at her incredulously, "There were dozens and dozens, all night long. And Fi was asleep. I thought you were, too. Lee and I were counting them but everyone else just snored away."

"God." Ellie breathed. And then; "I must have heard a different lot to you."

"I didn't hear anything." Kevin said, opening up his third Mars Bar for the day. Or maybe it was his second.

"It's probably the start of World War Three." I said without even the faintest inkling of how right I was. It was just one of those stupid comments – they type we all used to just come out with thinking we were really smart and funny for having said them. "We've probably been invaded and don't even know."

I blame the influence of too many war novels for that one, I'd only started All Quiet On The Western Front the day before which is why it was on the top of my mind, I guess.

"Yes," said Corrie from the comfort of her sleeping bag, "We're so cut off here. Anything could happen on the outside and we'd never hear about it."

As the talk drifted along this path and then on to a book we'd done for English about a girl who lived in a valley and was the only survivor of a nuclear explosion until another bloke showed up. I hadn't enjoyed the book much it was pretty stupid and the story line was pretty unbelievable to my mind.

And so the day meandered on and we all but forgot the planes. Once another plane went over in daylight, high and quiet so we didn't connect it with the ones from the night before. Homer went off to pan for gold in the creek, Kevin and Corrie went back to sleep and I got stuck into my book. It was a lazy day following a lazy day – and followed by another several lazy days.

A little while later Fi settled herself by the fire close to me and began brushing her long hair to get the snarls and tangles out that had built up overnight.

"I'm surprised nobody's parents have come looking for us just to check on us." She said conversationally.

"Oh I don't know, its only the second day, I imagine Robyn's dad will come abseiling over the cliff any minute now."

"Or my mother will have the SES out looking for us in helicopters." Fi added. I laughed and she said, "No, Im serious. She's such a worry wart."

"It's because she cares about you." I answered.

"I know, but she can be so overbearing sometimes. I often wonder if I'll ever be allowed to move out and have my own life. I can imagine being a fifty year old spinster still living at home being looked after by my mother like Miss Spencer." She said, remembering one of our odder teachers from Primary School.

"I always wondered how Miss Spencer got her degree. Her mother freaked out when she went to Stratton for two nights to take her dog in for an operation. Can you imagine if she had to leave to go to Uni for four years? Lucky she got her first teaching job back in Wirrawee." I said.

"Online degree." Fi answered smugly.

"Probably," I agreed, "It explains a lot."

"I'm going down to the creek to brush my teeth." She said suddenly, standing up. I noticed she'd changed into fresh clothes before turning back to my book. I nodded.

"Thanks for my PJ's Lee." She said. She hadn't worn them out of embarrassment, I knew.

"No problem."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the** **review, michaela. Hopefully you have all been patient with me, as life is busy and I haven't had the chance to do this chapter for a while! Hope you enjoy and please keep reading and reviewing everyone!!**

Five days. That was our camping trip. Day one to get in, day five to get out and home. By day two we'd eaten more than half the food we'd brought in. By day two and a half we decided we'd need to go up and get more. By day three we decided we were really, honestly going up to get more food. By day four we decided we could hold out until we packed up and left the next day.

It was an awesome week, most of the time we got along great. I had a long lazy discussion with Ellie about school sports and how pointless it was which morphed into a discussion about our sports teacher Mr Roberts which then morphed into a discussion about an old movie which had a lead character of the same name and eventually we got back to discussing movies we'd seen, liked and disliked.

I'd had her all to myself for about three hours before Corrie came to find her to go off for a walk up to Satan's steps. It was nice, Ellie was great to chat with.

We did have a few arguments, usually over really stupid stuff like what colour vehicle was most conspicuous and what colour was least, that one flared up like an erupting volcano. Ellie sure has a temper on her. Ellie also got into trouble for playing with the campfire too which annoyed the hell out of me with her going over to play with it all the time. I lose count of the number of times I told her to leave it.

Homer being Homer wasn't content with merely sitting around chilling out with everyone else. He spent a lot of time torturing Corrie with cold water on her sleeping bag, he dropped a spider down the back of her shirt and then tore out the last page of her book and hid it so she wouldn't know the end. Corrie was one of his favourite victims.

He still annoyed everyone else at least twice a day, especially when he short-folded Ellie's blankets so she couldn't go to bed without remaking the whole lot or hid all Kevin's clothes when he went down to the creek for a skinny dip. Corrie was the only one permitted to take them back to him, once we eventually found them.

Everyone except Fi. That had to be the most surprising development of the week. Homer had developed a thing for Fi. Who'd have guessed that the school clown, prankster and girl-hating drop kick at school would fall for the well spoken wealthy lady of the school? Not me. Talk about opposites attracting.

I knew Ellie was trying to get Fi to talk about it but Fi was playing it cool and pretending like there was nothing going on. Corrie and Ellie were full of the giggles and were always whisking Fi off to some quiet corner to get something out of her.

But she knew, I could tell she knew. Everyone knew. It wasn't half obvious. Homer was instantly mesmerized the minute she appeared in his vision. It became a game among me and Kevin to see if we could get him to say or agree to the most ridiculous things whilst she was around to distract him.

Corrie and I thought it was pretty hilarious – it was like being on a soap opera. In fact we even decided to write and produce it, a program we'd name "Bushwalkers" starring us seven and all the dirty deeds and intricate love triangles of the group.

"Yeah you know how it goes," I said, "You and I are probably long lost twins separated at birth."

The truth was, we didn't do much at all. It was hot, and we were really enjoying doing nothing with no real demands on our time.

The one thing I was regretting, by the last full day of our camp was not spending more time getting close to Ellie. After the week I had to admit to myself I really liked her. Well I had for ages but now after being just us for the week I knew it was a solid fact. I just hid it much better than Homer did. And like Homer I didn't really have the guts to do anything much about it.

The last evening we sat around the fire playing True Confessions. Robyn said "I don't want to go back. This is the best place and this has been the best week."

"Yeah," I added with feeling, "It's been great."

"I'm looking forward to a hot shower though." Fi said, "And some decent food." Indicating the remains of our cream cheese and vitamite cruskit sandwiches that we'd had for dinner.

"Lets do this again," Corrie suggested, "Back here in the same place with the same people."

"Yeah, OK." Agreed Homer at once.

"Let's keep this place a secret," Robyn said, "Otherwise everyone'll start using it and it'll be wrecked in no time." We all murmured agreement. Nobody wanted to share such a great secret campsite like this with anyone else.

"It is a good campsite," Ellie agreed. "Next time we should have a proper search for where the hermit lived."

"He might have had a shelter here and it's fallen down." I said.

"But he built the bridge so well, you'd think he would have built his home even better."

True Confessions continued then, with Robyn making me admit to having thumped Carl Carson in grade three and then throwing myself down a steep rocky slope at the park so I looked as though I'd been defending myself.

The game meandered on and we all confessed something silly, Kevin admitting to trying to drink petrol on a dare, Homer proudly admitting he'd stolen the school flag and putting up a fake flag in its place with "Wogs Rule" written on it with spray paint. Fi had deliberately hidden a note to her parents for a Merit Certificate she was getting at assembly because she was embarrassed about them coming in their new car and Robyn shamefaced, told us all that she really did wag school when she was ten to go and see the circus setting up. Ellie gave up and went to bed early before we could start on her. Chicken.

The next morning we all got up fairly early, planning to get going and beat the heat and began clearing up the campsite and packing our stuff up. I wanted to make sure the fire was properly out and we didn't leave any rubbish lying around. We also wanted to make sure there were no obvious signs of being here visible from anywhere up top – we wanted to keep our secret campsite to ourselves.

Ellie was in a funny mood, impatient and cranky. We mostly ignored her and kept packing and reorganizing. I don't think anyone was looking forward to the hike out up the steep cliff much.

"Oh god!" Ellie snapped at Robyn as she suddenly decided to rearrange her pack, "Lets go already!"

"Quit being bossy, Ell." Robyn answered mildly, "We've got all day."

Ellie went red and shut up. I couldn't figure out her mood but nobody was interested in getting into another fight with her.

Finally by eleven we were ready to go, giving one last sweeping glance to our hidden valley. As a group we turned away and reluctantly got going. It was already hot and we were going to get a whole lot hotter before the day was through.

"Let's go, Secret Seven," Fi urged, "Hot showers and a good feed tonight." I shouldered my pack with a sigh of relief. I was feeling edgy now, a twist of unease in my stomach.

"And we finally discover the mystery of where this track comes out and how everyone's missed it over the years." Homer added. They more or less took the lead and we all left the clearing, each hoping we'd see it again soon for another camp out.

Spins a whole knew meaning on 'be careful what you wish for' doesn't it?

We slogged up the track, it was pretty tough going once we left the valley bottom. We helped each other up the steepest bits – Homer always on hand to help Fi – and grunted and strained our legs up and up. The track wound steeply up the cliffside and soon we were close to where we joined it in the first place. And still we pushed on; knowing if we stopped it would be hard to get going again.

The track veered right away from Satan's steps and went straight across an old landslide which looked fairly solid. The track almost vanished it was so faint and Homer had to actually pay attention for a few minutes to find it again. It wound higher and higher, out in the open but due to the landfall down the steep slope nobody standing above would have seen the track at all, it was very well hidden.

The track went back into very thick scrub on the other side, almost a tunnel of the stuff and all the more overgrown because nobody had used it in forever. Except the odd kangaroo by the looks of things. We all had to pretty much bend double to get through, and at one point Ellie's almost empty pack got caught on a branch stopping her in her tracks. She yanked and pulled in frustration and only stopped when I asked her and detangled her again. Still nobody from above could possibly see the track.

Finally it finished, leading us under a trunk and straight into the bowl of a gumtree that had sometime in the distant past developed several trunks and over the last several hundred years they'd grown and grown forming a large area in the centre that we all could squash into with a bit of effort.

"This is brilliant." I said, "No wonder nobody has ever found it before."

"The rock here is the only way up, and you don't leave tracks. The perfect hide-out." Robyn added, stepping out onto the big sheet of stone, leaving the scrub and making a last effort up to the very top. We all followed, exhausted and glad the climb was over but elated at how easily we could keep our secret campsite.

We had a short break at the top of Wombegonoo. It was hot and humid and we were all sweating like pigs. I noticed the girls try to move around inconspicuously to get upwind of us boys. I was so tired, I could easily have gone to sleep. It was one heck of a climb. But we didn't stop for long, we had no food left and very little water and we were all anxious to get some lunch and a drink after the long hot climb.

So before long we'd found the Landrover and thankfully found all our supplies just as we left it and began throwing lunch together out of the most bizarre ingredients. We were that hungry. Soon we all – all except Ellie; I've long since gotten used to the fact Ellie is usually the exception to everything – settled down to eat, sleep and relax. Home could wait, it was still early and nobody was in a hurry to go back to civilization just yet.

Ellie was still really restless. I went and sat by her just as Kevin and Corrie wandered away hand in hand for a little walk. Homer was lying as close as he dared to Fi who was talking to Robyn and paying him no attention whatsoever.

We chatted a little too, the weather was the first subject, it was so humid and sticky. The cloud-cover was low hiding the coast from view. Now Ellie pointed it out there was something odd about it, we hadn't seen a single bird or animal all the way up and even now the bush was eerily still and silent.

We chatted about my parents' restaurant for a while. Ellie asked about the inner workings so I began to tell her about how we didn't even own a microwave – everything was cooked from scratch in the traditional way and my father got up at 3am to go to the markets in Stratton for the freshest ingredients.

Around mid afternoon we finally stirred and with a sigh of relief Ellie started the Landie and off we went, picking up Kevin and Corrie about a k or so down the track.

"Whoa look!" Corrie sat up hurriedly and pointed out the windscreen. We all looked, the tone of her voice commanding our attention. There were several fires burning on the plains. There were at least six and a couple looked really big. It was the topic of discussion for a few minutes, as we wondered what had caused them. It was really too early in the fire season yet but too late for burning off.

"Firebugs." Said Fi in disgust. "I hope they catch them and I hope nobody got hurt." But we weren't overly concerned, none of the fires were close to any of our homes or the township.

Shortly after that the fires were more or less forgotten as we made a stop for a swim when we hit the creek and I wound up talking to Ellie again. I remember that conversation so clearly.

"I wish they'd get a move on. I'm really keen to get home."

"Why?" I asked her.

"I don't know. I'm in a funny mood. A bad mood."

"Yes you seem a bit wound up." I said. That was putting it mildly.

"Maybe it's those fires. I can't figure them out." She sighed, putting her face in her hands for a minute.

"But you've been uptight most of this hike." I said as delicately as I could.

"Have I? Yes I suppose I have. I don't know why." She answered rubbing one hand across her forehead then raising her knees, resting her elbows on them and her chin on her arms.

"It's strange." I said slowly, the stirrings of unease resurfacing. "But I feel the same way."

"Do you? You don't show it." She answered looking at me sideways.

"I try not to."

"Yes, I believe that." She answered. After a while she added; "Maybe it's guilt. I feel bad about missing the show. We exhibit there quite a lot. Dad thinks we should support it. It takes ages, grooming stock and getting them in there and brushing and feeding and walking them, and presenting them. Dad was cool about it, and I did help groom them, but I left him with an awful lot of work."

"Do you only take them in there to help keep the show going?" I asked.

"No… it's quite an important show, especially for Charolais. It helps keep your name in front of people, so they realise you're a serious breeder. You've got to be so PR conscious nowadays."

"That's one thing the same about restaurants… here they come." I noticed the others finishing with their swim and we both sat up more as everyone approached. Robyn and Fi were the last ones out and were laughing and dripping water. Fi was showing off a bit I think and Homer couldn't keep his eyes off her.

I rolled my eyes at Ellie as we got up. It would have been obvious to anyone short of a coma something was going on with those two.

Ellie told me it was about half an hour from the water hole to her place and the edginess returned to her, making me feel anxious too. Even though the others had been laughing and relaxed they seemed to pick up our mood and we drove the last few k's in silence, each peering anxiously though the windscreen for any sign that things were all OK.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you for the reviews everyone!! Sorry it has been so long since I updated, I've been struggling to find time to sit down and really write - life is so hectic around here. Hope this chapter measures up, and I've been fuelled to write some more for Chap 6 & 7!_

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It wasn't OK. Nothing was ever OK again. I often think back to where our last true happy moment was and I think for most of us it was the night of our last full day down in Hell. That night we were relaxed, happy, excited even. Free. That was the big one. Back then we were free. Free from slavery, fear, adrenalin, free from an overhanging death sentence and free from moral obligation. That night we were still normal teenagers.

The first thing we noticed was the silence. The dogs had gone completely bonkers when we were leaving, wild with excitement wanting to be included, bouncing around on the ends of their chains. Now they were silent and it took maybe 30 seconds after we pulled in for Ellie to see their little bodies lying by the home made iron kennels covered in flies. They were all dead.

She ran from one to the other whilst the rest of us climbed slowly out of the landie, all shocked and numb. You could ask what I was thinking at this point. Journo's already had. "What was going through your head?"; "How did you feel?"; "Did you start to realise that something was really wrong?"

The answer was; nothing. My brain was completely blank. I wasn't thinking, I wasn't feeling. It must be some sort of safety mechanism for the human soul, when something so awful is happening. In fact I remember Dave mentioning something about that – how often the brain shuts down, how victims of awful crimes don't remember what has happened, its too awful to cope with so the brain isolates and blacks out the memory. This was what it was like. Complete nothingness, the body working on automatic. My brain just didn't blank out the memory.

The last dog wagged its tail and staggered to its feet. Ellie knelt by her and slipped off her chain, patting the poor thing's head and murmuring to it in a low voice.

Corrie began moving toward the house and Ellie called "Do something for the dog." To her. Corrie hesitated and then said "Look after the dogs, Kev." And followed Ellie into the house. The others all began to move as though we were all hypnotized. Nothing was making sense and ever so slightly, a feeling of terror was beginning to twist my guts.

I looked around, scanning the horizons. There was no movement, no cars out on the road, no tractors rumbling across the paddocks. There was an occasional galah flying in a straight line as though it was in a real hurry to be somewhere else. The fires were still burning, one looking real big from here. But there were no clues. There was no activity at all. The world might have ended. The human race wiped out and we the last survivors.

It genuinely crossed my mind at this point. What if we were the last? Had the yanks and whoever they were fighting with this week really had enough of each other and pushed the button, wiping everyone out? For a few moments I really did think it had happened.

I followed the others into the house then, my mind beginning to run way too fast, reliving conversations over the last week and memories of our trip.

"What's happening?" Fi was asking as I finally entered the house behind her. "What's wrong?"

Kevin came last carrying the last dog.

"Get her some food from the coolroom." Ellie said absently.

"I'll go." Said Homer and vanished around the corner.

Ellie began to try to explain, she got her words muddled and confused and repeated unimportant things in her panic. In the end she stopped, looking round at us all wildly and said; "We've got to do something."

At that moment Homer was back, "The power's off in the coolroom. It stinks terrible." He said, anxiety written all over his face.

"Terribly." Ellie corrected him without thinking. He just looked at her.

"Did they say they were going away?" Fi asked.

The others began to toss around ideas of what could possibly be going on but no explanation fit. Except one.

"The planes. It must be something to do with the planes." I whispered to Robyn reminding her of that night in Hell. She didn't answer me but her face was a mask of terror. Ellie glanced at her and her expression mirrored Robyn's for a moment.

"Let's get back to the Landrover." Ellie said finally. "Bring the dog. We'll go to Homer's."

"Wait a sec." I said, everyone stopped. "Have you got a transistor radio? A battery one?"

"Yes I don't know where." She answered, confused. "Why?"

"I've got my walkman in the Landrover." Robyn said, her voice hoarse as though she hadn't had a drink in several weeks.

"Have you heard any news bulletins since we've been away?" I asked her.

"No, I tried a few times to pick up radio stations but I couldn't get any." She answered me, swallowing hard. "I guess the cliffs around Hell cut them off." Her eyes were wide and frightened in her face.

"Can you find your radio?" I turned back to Ellie.

"I guess." She answered and hurried away to find it. The others stayed silent, each of us looking as freaked out as everyone else.

I heard the static as Ellie came back down the hall. She put the radio down and went through the entire range slowly and carefully. There was nothing but static. Everyone looked at me.

"I don't know." I shook my head. "Let's get to Homer's."

Ellie was in such a rush she stalled the Landie badly. The second time we got a smoother take-off. She muttered something about the chooks as we hit the road and Homer answered her that it would be OK, we'd figure it out but he didn't look at her. Perched on the edge of his seat, staring homeward as though willing us to get there sooner.

Without noticing Ellie was driving faster and faster the closer we got. As we roared down the driveway, a huge cloud of expanding dust behind us I felt even more uneasy. I didn't like that we weren't taking any care. We all stared to the house, wishing, hoping, yearning for movement. There was nothing.

As we rattled over the cattle grid Ellie had her hand on the horn, blaring our arrival to anyone within earshot making the adrenalin race through my veins, my heart race and a hot uncomfortable feeling bloom in the pit of my stomach.

"Don't do that Ellie!" I said urgently and she stopped. She skidded the Landrover to a hard and fast stop, Homer was out of the car and running before the Landie'd halted completely calling for his parents. The rest of us piled out in a hurry. Everyone else rushed to the house behind Homer. Except me.

I really hated the conclusions I was coming to but I couldn't ignore my gut feeling. I didn't want to disturb the others so I got back in the Landie and started it. Ellie heard and whipped around to see me get the thing into reverse and with a lot of noise and almost stalling it, and under the big peppercorn tree behind the water tank stand. I wished now more than ever I'd learned to drive properly before now.

I got out, and as I approached the house Ellie shouted at me then, not noticing Robyn who'd come back out, probably to see what the noise was about.

"Lee! You're wrong! Stop doing these things! Stop thinking these things! You're wrong!" she screamed at me.

"He probably is." Robyn put a hand on Ellie's shoulder and she wheeled to face her. "But the radio…" she took a breath. "Hold yourself together Ellie, just 'till we know."

We all went into the house. The others were checking on the animals – some alive some dead. I went to the phone, desperately hoping I could call my parents but that hope died the second the cool plastic of the receiver touched my ear. No dial tone here either. Ellie came in with a budgie and raised a quizzical eyebrow. I shook my head sadly and hung up.

"There's an RF radio in the office." Homer came in, face completely devoid of emotion. We'd all locked it up tight now, just to get through the next minute without having a meltdown.

"What's an RF radio?" Fi asked.

"Rural Firefighting."

"Would it be safe?" asked Robyn. I looked at her and she glanced back. We knew we were both on the same wavelength.

"I don't know. Who knows anything?" Homer answered dully.

Ellie started up then. She was trying to convince herself as much as us I think.

"This is ridiculous." She began, "I know what you're thinking, and it is completely absolutely impossible. Absolutely not possible. These things just don't happen, not here, not in this country." Then her face lit up and she started again, passionately – in her wild hope for an answer, she thought for a second she'd found it. Grasping at the first straw to explain away these terrible things.

"Those fires! They'll be out fighting those fires. There must have been dome bad ones, so bad they couldn't get back."

"Ellie, they weren't that kind of fire." Homer said to her, "You know that. You know what a bad fire looks like."

"I don't know much about these things," I spoke up before Ellie could rip Homer's head off, "but shouldn't your radio be alive with voices while those fires are burning?"

"Yes!" Homer leapt up with renewed hope, turning in a hurry.

"But there's no power." Fi said.

They have back up batteries." Ellie answered keen for Homer's radio to prove her theory right. We rushed to the radio and crowded around, filling the office. We got nothing but static despite triple checking the range and frequency.

"Do you think we should send out a call on the radio?" Homer asked.

"What do you think Ellie?" I asked her.

She thought for a minute and then said; "The only reason for calling up would be if we could get help for our families. If they're in trouble, or danger. But if they are, everyone must be in the same boar. And the authorities must know about it. So we wouldn't be helping our families by transmitting the call… The only other reason for calling is because we're so desperate to find out. But OK, I admit we may create danger for ourselves…" her voice broke and she paused to regain control. "…if there's something bad happened… if there's people out there…"

"So on balance?" I asked, wishing we could give ourselves permission to call and almost willing Ellie to say we should but knowing we shouldn't.

"I don't think we should call." She answered sadly.

"I agree." Homer said.

"Me too." I agreed.

"Then it's Corrie's turn." Homer said. "And Kevin's. I don't even know where Robyn lives."

"Just outside town." Ellie told him.

"Well I guess geographically Corrie and Kevin come first." He looked at me and I nodded. My home, right in Wirrawee's main street, would be the last.

We all met again in the kitchen. Kevin shadowed Corrie, afraid to let her out of his sight. They held hands tightly, walking in perfect unison. Corrie carried a bucket of disgusting off milk from the poor beast out the back. Some was given to the dog.

"Do you mind if we go to our places?" Kevin asked Homer. "We'll go on our own if we can have a vehicle. Or… the Landrover." He said glancing at Ellie anxiously. Corrie didn't look up, she stared at the dog lapping up the awful milk, her hair shielding her face and hiding her desperate expression.

"Dad said I was the only…" Ellie began and then stopped. She shrugged hopelessly. Robyn, the cool calm and most collected one of us spoke up. I'd always admired Robyn for her strength and now it showed.

"We've got to think, guys. I know we all want to rush off, but this is one time we can't afford to give in to feelings. There could be a lot at stake here. Lives even. We've got to assume that something really bad is happening, something quite evil. If we're wrong, we can laugh about it later but we've got to assume they're not down the pub or gone on holiday."

Ellie really lost it then. She screamed at Robyn; "Of course it's bad! Do you think my Dad would just let his dogs die like that? Do you think I'll be having a good laugh about that tomorrow?" she choked on her words, screaming and crying all at once. The room erupted, we all lost it for a moment, each of us screaming and yelling at everyone else. None of us seemed to have any self control. The hot, dark, gut wrenching fear had got to us, we'd lost control.

And then, Homer suddenly said; "Fi, I've heard of biting your nails but that's ridiculous." And I glanced to see her, white as a sheet with almost her entire fist in her mouth. And stupidly, just as uncontrolled, I laughed. We all laughed. We laughed ourselves silly until our sides ached and tears rolled down our cheeks. For a while we couldn't stop. It was mad. All that stress, the fear, we couldn't even control our laughter.

I look back now and wonder how we survived those first few weeks. We were so stupid, so naïve. Made so many mistakes. We were making so much noise in Homer's kitchen. We could easily have been wiped out if there had been any enemy soldiers close enough to hear.

"Lets listen to Robyn. Come on everyone." I said, wiping my face. We all took a few deep breaths and quietened down. Robyn became the centre of attention once more.

Ellie appologised and Robyn waved it away. Some things didn't need to be said, but she appologised in turn for a poor choice of words. Robyn said what I thought. Caution. We had to act carefully, not go out 'till dark. We had to decide whether it was better to split up or stay together.

"For a start I suggest no one goes on from here until it is dark, and that when they do go they don't use lights." She said.

"What do you thinks happened?" Ellie asked, her voice shaking. "Do you think the same as Lee?"

"Well," said Robyn, there's no sign of everyone leaving in a hurry like in an emergency. They left some days ago. And they expected to come back some days ago. Now, what's something that everyone would have gone off to some days ago, expecting to come back We all know the answer to that one."

"Commemoration Day. The Show." Said Corrie, staring at the dog again. Her voice was faint. Far away.

"Exactly."

Ellie in a brainwave asked Homer what may be here or even missing that he could tell if his parents had come back from the show, something they wouldn't have left behind at any price. He thought for a moment then rushed off to check for his mother's needlepoint piece – she entered every year and as soon as she got home, she would hang it on the wall in the living room.

"Nothing." He answered when he got back. "It's not there."

:OK," said Robyn, taking charge again. "Let's assume that a lot of people went to the Show and didn't come back. And lets assume that since Commem Day all power and phones have been cut, all radio stations are off the air and there have been a number of fires. And the people who went to the Show wanted to come back but couldn't. Where does that leave us?"

"And there's another thing." I said, loudly. Not wanting to be the one to say it but knowing I had to.

"The night of the Show those hundreds of aircraft, maybe more than hundreds, came in over the coast, flying low and at high speed."

"And without lights." Ellie interjected suddenly. My stomach dropped again.

"Without lights? You didn't tell us that." Kevin demanded.

"It didn't strike me," she answered, calm now. "You know how you notice something but not consciously? That's what it was like."

Fi started then, throwing out wild theories. I wasn't listening; I was too busy worrying about my family, wondering what safety precautions we'd need to take. My mopther had already been through one war and I had already decided that was what had happened. I'd already decided we were at war.

Fi and the others argued for a few minutes, then they began shouting again. The stress, the strain was really showing again. But it seemed that the others were beginning to come around to my way of thinking. Poor Fi, she was too frightened, not thinking straight. Her theories grew wilder and the others tried to calm her down, to get her to see sense.

"Fi," I said finally, sick of the idle waste of time and the arguments, "They're all valid theories. And I'm not saying your wrong. You're probably right, and the planes are just a coincidence, and the radio can be explained away and so on. But the thing that scares the sweat out of me is there is one theory that does fit all the facts, and so bloody neatly its perfect. Remember our conversation that morning in Hell? How Commemoration Day would be the ideal day to do it?"

Fi just nodded, she was beginning to cry. I was too, everyone was. Tears just rolled down our faces again, unchecked and unstoppable leaving clean tracks on our grubby faces. We wept like little kids, so afraid and so helpless. So sure of the horrible truth.

"Maybe all my mother's stories made me think of it before you guys. And like Robyn said before, if we're wrong," I choked, struggling to get the impossible, possible and awful words out. "if we're wrong we can laugh as long and loud as you want. But for now, for now, let's say it's true. Let's say we've been invaded. I think there might be a war."


	6. Chapter 6

Our next move was to go to Kevin's. His face was even more strained and anxious than before and he was restless and twitchy. By now I am sure we were all expecting to find no-one, find nothing. But we hoped. We hoped like you hope that you'll win the lotto. You know it won't happen but there's always this chance, this little thought in your mind that yes it might be a winner this time.

It was awful, having to wait for it to get dark. The long summer day seemed to stretch on forever. But we'd made a decision and we had to stick to it. We had to play it safe. We each sat ourselves in a different spot around Homer's house. I think he went to his room; Ellie remained in the kitchen with her dog. Corrie and Kevin found solace in each other's company in the lounge, Robyn sat at the back door and I sat on the front veranda.

The house was far too stifling for me. It was a hot day, and without the mod con of air conditioning it was too uncomfortable to be inside. There was not even a whisper of a breeze. I sat in a chair, staring down the long empty driveway which joined the long, empty road.

For a while my mind was blank. Then I began to wonder if perhaps I was wrong. What if it wasn't an invasion after all and something else had gone wrong? I had no doubt there was a war but could it be something like nuclear warfare? Or had we had some plague dropped on us whilst we were down in Hell? Had everyone been killed or were dying of some awful fast acting disease that somehow had missed us in our bush hideaway?

The quiet was eerie. Nothing moved no vehicles, no people, barely any animals except the sheep and cattle in the paddocks.

As the sun had just dipped below the horizon there was a soft tread and the front screen door opened. Ellie came out and sat on the other chair without a word. Shortly afterward Kevin and Corrie came out and arranged themselves on the front steps and then Robyn. Homer was last, pausing in the doorway of his home, a torch in either hand.

"OK, that's enough, let's go." Kevin said impatiently, heaving himself to his feet.

"No, wait, it's still too light." Corrie pleaded with him, gently drawing him to sit down beside her again. Kevin just grunted in frustration but didn't argue. Together we all waited. And waited for darkness.

Eventually we decided it was dark enough to leave. Ellie left her dog on a blanket with full bucket of water and a large bowl of dog biscuits. There was no telling if we'd ever be able to return for her. The moon wasn't up yet but the last of the light in the horizon was gone and we were no longer at risk of our silhouettes being easily spotted against the glow. We got to our feet and wordlessly, with Kevin in the lead, began walking.

We walked down the road in silence, just one or two words exchanged in low voices but otherwise no other sound than our light tread. It was decided to walk on the shoulders of the road, close enough to the bush on the shoulders to dive for cover if necessary. We'd agreed before leaving not to use the torches unless it was absolutely necessary.

As soon as we hit the long farm driveway Kevin dropped Corrie's hand and began to run. Without thinking, without needing to discuss we all began running after him. Robyn soon passed me, Ellie kept ahead of me. Fi and Homer behind. Kevin was no runner but he pounded along like a juggernaut. A whole convoy of enemy tanks wouldn't have stopped him and for once he outstripped us. Panting and pumping our legs we raced behind him.

"Be careful when you get there, Kev." I called out to him, afraid that we still weren't being careful enough. That we could run right into trouble. He didn't answer me.

He must have got there a couple of minutes before the rest of us, and by the time we all arrived he'd already discovered that his home was the same as the others. Dead working dogs on their chains, their poddy lambs and pet cockatoo on the veranda dead too and an empty house.

Well, not quite empty. Kevin's corgie bitch had been locked inside with a large bucket of water and another of food so she was still healthy and completely insanely pleased to see us. She'd used Kevin's parents' room as a toilet and the house reeked. We mostly stayed outside but Corrie went to clean up the mess.

"OK, what now?" Robyn asked.

"I need to go home." Fi said in a quiet voice. Nobody answered her immediately.

"Does anyone know if there's anybody who wouldn't have gone to the show?" Homer asked.

"My parents wouldn't have. My brothers and sisters always do, but not my parents." I answered quickly.

"Chris probably wouldn't have." Ellie said.

"Bikes!" Robyn interjected suddenly. "It's faster and easier than running, and it's quiet. Kevin, you guys will have some treadlies won't you?" she asked him.

He nodded and strode outside quickly. We heard him making a little noise and then he wheeled a couple of bikes up to the veranda, his brothers', one guided by each hand. "My old bike's in there too." He told us. Corrie dashed off to find it and returned quickly.

"We need to go into town; we have to find out what is going on for sure." I said. The others didn't disagree.

"I want to take Flip." Kevin said firmly. The dog had been following him closely since we'd arrived and was still waggling her whole body with the sheer excitement of having him back.

"I don't know…" Ellie began, obviously trying not to upset Kevin too much. "We have to be really quiet. We'd be in trouble if she started to bark.

"I think she should come, at least to my house." Corrie said in a thick voice.

"OK, let's take her as far as Corrie's and then decide what to do when we get there." I said impatiently, the night was wearing on. "But Kevin, we may have to make some ugly choices." I warned him. He just nodded.

Homer dinked Kevin on his bike, Ellie dinked Fi, I rode one and Robyn ended up jogging beside us, refusing a lift saying she needed the exercise. I wished I knew where she got her energy from. I was beat.

Corrie's was the same. It was empty and silent. More dead working dogs, more dead pets. Corrie stood in the middle of her living room and cried and cried, staring out the window at the dark lump in the yard that was the lifeless body of her childhood pony Basil. Kevin came in and saw her, then took her in his arms and held her, letting her cry.

"We've got to eat something." Robyn said to us. Nobody answered her; I guess we were all too tired and shocked to even want to function at this point. Robyn didn't give up, though. "C'mon Ellie, give us a hand." She said, gently tugging Ellie's arm. Eventually she, Ellie and Homer made some sandwiches and some tea and coffee and we forced the food down. It was so hard to chew, even harder to swallow. I felt nauseous and was struggling to eat mine I just wanted to throw it away.

But I have to admit, once I had got it all down I did feel better. I had a little more energy and with it, I was able to think better.

"We'll have to be much more careful now, we're heading into town and that's where the danger will be if there's any." I said.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Homer muttered. I ignored him.

"No, he's right." Robyn agreed. "Although our place is on Tanner Rd, so not exactly suburbia."

"How far along?" Homer asked.

Robyn went on to describe the location and layout of her house on their 10 acre block. Homer, Kevin and myself hadn't been there before, but the girls had.

"Well we could go in through Coachman's Lane." Ellie suggested, "That runs all along the back of your place and we could hide away on the hill and suss things out from there."

The suggestion was met with approval from everyone and the meeting broke up. Ellie went off along the hall so the rest of us waited out the front. Corrie waited for Ellie in the kitchen.

Ellie was taking her time and just as I was going to go and fetch her out she and Corrie came racing out, white faced and wild eyed – a piece of paper in Corrie's hand.

"What is it?" Fi asked, frightened at their expressions.

"A fax. From Dad." Corrie choked out. Kevin took it from her and read it out for the rest of us.

Corrie, I'm in the Show Secretary's Office. Something's going on. People say its just Army maneuvers but I'm sending this anyway, then heading home to tear it up so no one'll know what an idiot I've been. But Corrie, if you do get this, go bush. Take great care. Don't come out till you know it's safe. Much love darling, Dad.

We all looked at each other for a moment. Then without a word needing to be spoken, Kevin hugged Corrie, Ellie hugged them both, then Homer, me, Robyn, Fi. We all stood together, cried a little at the shocking, awful realization that our theory was true.

"I've always laughed at Dad for being so cautious. The way he carries his spirit level everywhere. But his big motto is "Tome spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted." Maybe we'd better go with that for a while." Corrie had said as we left her house. And we'd all agreed whole heartedly.

We left Flip chained up at Corrie's. We couldn't afford any noise now, and Kevin knew it. He stooped to give her a pat and a whispered promise to be back soon and we left.

We began to act much more carefully than before. The truth was hitting home. Our lives really and truly were at stake now. We crept along on the bikes, having scored another at Corrie's. We decided to move in pairs. Fix a landmark ahead, with the first pair moving off first. If it was safe, the first pair would ride back and drop a tea towel in the road for the others. 5 minutes later, the second pair, then 5 minutes after that the last lot of three would set out.

It was Robyn's idea; she was coming up with a lot of good ones. So she and I went first. We seemed to be teaming up a fair bit but I didn't mind, Robyn was smart and sensible. It took an age for us to reach Robyn's house. But nothing happened. It was the same as it had been all day, all evening. Total quiet and not a soul to be seen. I was beginning to wonder if this was a good thing, or a bad. Half, half I decided.

We found Robyn's house no different from the rest. Their dog was gone, possibly taken to the Show when her parents went, but the budgies were dead and so was the cat. The house smelled bad and had a distinct air of emptiness about it. I stayed outside and kept watch while Robyn did a quick tour of her home. By the time she'd finished and we'd come out the second pair, Homer and Ellie had arrived.

Robyn whispered the answer to their question about their home; we waited for the others to arrive and then climbed wearily up the little hill behind Coachman's Lane, directly behind Robyn's house. I checked my watch. 1.33am.

"Look." Ellie said as we got to the top. We turned around and followed her line of sight. The Showgrounds. The floodlights around the trotting track and any other bulb on the grounds was alight, the area shining like a beacon. There were one or two buildings in the main street lit up, too. The rest of the town was in darkness, not even street lights on. Still no vehicles or movement though.

"I've got to go home." Fi whimpered again. Homer awkwardly put one arm around her shoulders and squeezed her gently.

"Me too, I have to see." I said.

The others agreed and we began a whispered conversation which was cut off before it had really begun. A truck lumbered out of the Showgrounds. We all immediately shut up to watch. It turned up Baker St and rolled toward the other lit buildings.

"I think we should split up." Homer said, eventually. The girls, and Kevin, immediately hissed a protest. I caught his eye. We were beginning to think along the same wavelength, Homer and I.

Homer explained his reasoning; "We need to be out of town before dawn. A long way out of town. And we're running short of time. It's not going to be quick and easy, traveling around these streets. We're getting tired, and that alone with slow us down, not to mention the care that we'll have to take. Also, two people can move more quietly than seven. And finally, to tell you the truth, if there are soldiers here and anyone's caught… well, again, two's better than seven. I hate to mention the fact, but five people free and two people locked up is a better equation than no people free and seven locked up. You all know what a whiz I am at Maths." He finished.

We were all quiet for a minute. He was so right, it was frightening. Our brains were being forced to work in a completely different way than they ever had.

"So what are you suggesting?" Kevin asked.

"I'll go with Fi. I've always wanted to see inside one of those rich houses on the hill. This is my big chance." He said. Fi kicked out at him, but she was too tired to make it count. Homer ignored her. "Maybe if Robyn and Lee go to Lee's, what do you think? And you other three take a closer look at the Showground. All those lights… maybe that's their base. Or it could be where they're keeping people even."

We thought about this. I was restless now, ready to go.

"Yes it's the best way." Robyn said. "How about everyone not wearing dark clothing to come to the house and help yourselves to some? And we meet back here on the hill at, say, three o'clock?"

"What if somebody's missing?" Fi asked suddenly; panic making her voice stronger, quicker. My brain shut down again. I couldn't even contemplate that thought at the moment.

"How about we wait till 3.30 if anyone's not back. Then move out fast, but come back tomorrow night - I mean tonight. And if you're the ones missing and you get back late, lie low for the day."

"Yes." Said Homer. "That's all we can do."

We all got to our feet. Kevin, Corrie and Ellie were already wearing dark clothing so they were ready to roll immediately. And now we'd decided on action, we had to get going. Ellie hugged Fi and Robyn, punched Homer's shoulder and flipped me a salute. Kevin didn't move and Corrie just gave us all a frightened smile barely visible in the night. And then they were gone, creeping down the hill and into Coachman's Lane again on their dangerous mission. Within seconds the night had swallowed them up.


End file.
